The Hasso Plattner Institute for Software Systems Engineering (HPI) at the University of Potsdam is Germany’s centre of excellence for IT systems engineering. HPI is financed entirely through private funds donated by its founder, Professor Hasso Plattner, who co-founded the software company SAP and is head of one of the institute’s research areas. HPI is the only university in Germany that offers bachelor’s and master’s programmes in IT systems engineering – a practical and engineering-oriented study programme in computer science, in which 490 students are presently enrolled. The HPI School of Design Thinking is Europe’s first innovation school for university students. It is based on the Stanford model of the d.school and offers 240 places a year for supplementary study. There are 10 professors at HPI and more than 50 guest professors, lecturers and contracted teachers. HPI carries out research that is noted for its high standard of excellence in its 10 topic areas. Research work is also conducted at the Potsdam HPI Research School for PhD candidates as well as at its branches in Cape Town, Haifa and Nanjing. Since the beginning of September 2012, HPI has run openhpi.de, an interactive internet educational platform. Its free online courses are open to everyone.
